At-Home Skin Care Tools that Actually Work

We live in a world where you can DIY almost anything, including getting spa-like facial results from the comfort of your bathroom. While I wouldn’t recommend replacing your esthetician completely, there are some skin care tools that you can use at home to mimic the results of an in-office treatment. Many of these devices work well, but typically require more frequent use to get the desired results of an in-office treatment. If you aren’t expecting instant results, any of these devices, in tandem with a good skin care routine can help improve your skin’s appearance, texture and radiance, all from the comfort of your home!

My Favorite Skin Care Tools

Tinkle Razors

Dermaplaning is hands-down the most effective way to improve the quality of your skin and make sure that your skin care products perform at their optimal level. Not only does it help speed up cell turnover as you get those dead skin cells off the surface, but it makes your makeup look incredible! Legend has it that Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor dermaplaned so I feel like I’m in good company. Visit this post for a closer look at what dermaplaning is, how to do it at home and how to implement it into your skin care routine. I use these Tinkle razors that you can get off of Amazon and I think they’re the best tool for at-home dermaplaning.

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Gua-Sha

A Gua-Sha tool can effectively increase blood flow, drain the lymphatic system and give a subtle lift. Translated directly as ‘scraping’ the traditional Chinese skin care tool is meant to be moved over the skin in quick motions. There are several good tutorials available online if you are interested in learning the proper technique! I use this facial oil anytime I use a Gua-Sha. It is lightweight and doesn’t break me out, which I cannot say for other facial oils. I personally prefer to use a Gua-Sha in the morning after I cleanse, tone and apply serums if I’m interested in maximum facial slimming. I will sometimes follow up with an ice roller if I’m just really wanting to feel refreshed and toned. If you prefer PM then you could do it after the shower, while you’re in your bath or just as the final step of your skin care routine. I would always let all of your other products settle before putting on a facial oil and using the Gua-Sha!

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Dermaflash 2.0

I have been wanting to try this at-home replacement for dermaplaning to see how it compares to Tinkle razors. To me this device would be like getting dermaplaning and a hydrofacial in one since it has an extractor that gently pulls out blackheads as it pushes serum into the skin. If you have it please let me know if you like it!

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LightStim

Whenever I get a facial, my esthetician puts me under a lamp to target bacteria, minimize redness and reduce inflammation. I purchased this LightStim device at the summer Sephora sale. It is an FDA-cleared device combining LightStim MultiWave® LED light with four different wavelengths of therapeutic light energy to help visibly reduce fine lines and wrinkles while restoring your skin’s natural health. At home devices can have 20 LED bulbs while the in-office ones will have thousands. Blue light helps with acne, red light stimulates the skin’s production of collagen and reduce hyperpigmentation, and yellow decreases inflammation.

This device targets wrinkles on the forehead, crow’s feet, cheeks, nasal labial folds, jawline, and even your lips. It improves the look of fine lines and wrinkles, supports natural collagen and elastin, reduces pore size, refines skin’s texture, and visibly firms. There is a built-in timer and you can use the tool as often as you like! When you use it, it stimulates ATP, which is your cell’s energy to help produce collagen and elastin.

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Personal Microderm Devices

I used a PMD for a long time until I started using tinkle razors. In my opinion, PMD do the exact same thing, exfoliate your skin, lifting dead skin cells from the surface and leaving softer skin. The difference is that a PMD has suction. If you are afraid of cutting yourself while dermaplaning, this would be a great alternative.

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Foreo

I no longer use my Foreo as much but when I was struggling with breakouts I used it every, single day. After researching for this post I am probably going to go back to using it! The silicone surface doesn’t harbor bacteria like other cleaners with bristles and the vibrating motion stimulates the lymphatic system, draining puffiness as it cleans.

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Facial steamers

I LOVE this facial steamer from Amazon! It’s one of my favorite at-home skin care tools. A facial steamer softens the skin’s top layers which helps your pores open up thus helping your skincare work that much better. The steamer adds hydration that you then lock in with a moisturizer. Using a steamer makes exfoliating your skin extra effective.

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The Glopro

The Glopro is a microneedling tool that promotes wound healing to stimulate cellular turnover and collagen production. This device is said to increase your skin care absorption 200x. I was using it all over my face before I put on my retinol in the evening and really concentrating on my chin to see if it will help fade my scar. I do notice a small difference but not the laser-like results that I was expecting. In my opinion this is one of the devices that doesn’t hurt and does help your skin care absorb better, but you could easily use a facial steamer instead. However, if you are prone to redness and rosacea, I would use this over the facial steamer and so far I am actually noticing a difference.

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Nu-Face

Nu-Face is an FDA-cleared facial toning device that is a micro-current massager. It stimulates facial muscles for a natural lift & contour! While you can get better results in a spa, this is the best at-home device on the market in my opinion. Microcurrent devices stimulate the surface of the skin via low-voltage electricity to improve circulation.

Nu-Face sent me this product almost two years ago and my largest regret in life was that I lost it for about 6 months. It is crazy how regular use can improve the look and tone of your skin! Essentially it is like working out your face muscles. I use it when I’m brushing my teeth or setting out clothes, anything that I can do one handed.

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Ice Roller

I use an ice roller almost every day! With the type of face that gets puffy just looking at sodium, an ice roller helps soothe my under-eye areas while contouring my jawline. Ice rollers not only help contour and reduce the appearance of pores, they also help to fight redness, reduce puffiness, and also help with inflammation.

Start by using an ice roller fresh out of the freezer and apply it right after your morning skin care, but before moisturizers, sunscreen and primers. I like to do it after serums because the cold temperature constricts your pores, locking the goodness in. To use, you simply roll out from your nose along your cheek bone, up and out from your mouth and chin in smooth strokes pushing all the puffiness over to your ears. Be careful around the eye area and don’t push too hard. I do get a little more aggressive along my jaw bone where fluid buildup can reside. Roll with your ice roller for 5-10 minutes or until it loses coldness and then you can use it to roll from your ear down the side of your neck to help with lymphatic drainage.

Not only do ice rollers give you an immediate toned and lifted effect, they also help with anti-aging and prolonged results. This is because of the cold temperature’s ability to help with inflammation which can lead to aging, redness and premature aging. Of all my skin care devices, the ice roller is one of my favorites.

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Face Sculptor

A face sculptor is one of those skin care devices that’s essentially a hybrid between the benefits of a NuFace and an ice roller. The deep kneading action of the Skin Gym Face Sculptor beauty roller mimics the effect of a professional massage. The sculptor fits the contour of the face and helps massage along your natural facial contour to help leave your skin with a radiant glow. If you keep it in the freezer it can also have similar results as an ice roller would. To use, perform outward and upward strokes with your roller along the contours of your face.

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